‘Kelly is more than the next Beckham’ – the Lioness shifting the culture

Chloe Kelly’s winning penalty in the Euro 2025 final changed English football’s culture and was awarded with a hop, skip, and thwack.

Kelly, who has spent the past three years at the center of the Lionesses’ explosion into the public consciousness, is not at all new with this.

In the Euro 2022 final, she scored the winning goal before celebrating by twirling her shirt aloft with sports bra on display. Kelly was praised for empowering women and showing how the Lionesses inspire both current and upcoming generations of girls.

The 2025 final had a different outcome. While Kelly was praised for spending time with the mascot at the medal ceremony, chatting with and hugging the young girl, she then turned to the camera after getting her award and mouthed a sweary celebration.

Meanwhile, Kelly’s alleged mockery of keeper Cata Coll following the winning spot-kick sparked a row in Spanish media. The headline read, “This is unnecessary, my friend.”

That is the Lionesses of 2025, spearheaded by Kelly – inspirational yes, but also arrogant in the way of all champions, icons not only for their gender, but also for their immense sporting ability.

Kelly is regarded as the embodiment of contemporary Lionesses by friends and team-mates.

England defender Esme Morgan said, “She seems to thrive on those times when the team needs to pull a performance out of the bag.”

Team-mates at Everton and Manchester City, Sandy MacIver also shared a house with Kelly during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Scotland goalkeeper described Chloe as “very chilled and laid-back” on BBC Sport. She has this aura on the pitch, but she leaves it.

” At City she was a louder voice in changing room. She now has the ability to excel as she does.

According to Nicola Kemp, editorial director of Creativebrief, that may represent a tonal shift in how the Lionesses are perceived culturally.

” This is a real watershed moment for football marketing, “Kemp told BBC Sport”. I anticipate more investment because Kelly’s passion and audacity on the pitch match up to a commercial cut-through.

In many ways, Kelly is a marketer’s dream. In all of England’s Euro 2025 knockout matches, she made the game-deciding contributions on the pitch, helping Russo equalize with Russo’s equalizer in the final, and scoring both of her crosses against Sweden and scoring the winner against Italy.

All of this was done in substitute appearances. Before you can get to the winning penalty, that is.

She is well-liked by fans off the field, and she has become the most popular Lioness on Instagram thanks to topping the BBC Sport audience ratings in comparison to Sweden and Spain.

Having had 75, 000 followers before Euro 2022, she now boasts 1.2 million fans on social media, surpassing Arsenal and England team-mate Leah Williamson.

However, many of those fans might find her choice of barbecue to be surprising.

We used to host barbecues in the summer when we were neighbors in Lockdown, MacIver said. “She likes a BBQ banana with nutella.

To be honest, “We had a great time in Lockdown.” We had a difficult quiz with the Lionesses one week, and we came out on top. People thought we cheated, but we didn’t! “

When Kelly and her partner were living in the house during lockdown, MacIver and her partner called him a “great guy” and claimed the couple were “very much in love”

After TV cameras caught her taping up her shin pads, Kelly’s popularity increased even more when she went viral during the quarter-final.

One featured her kissing Moore on their wedding day, while the other had an image of their pet dogs.

Kelly said before the final that “Otis and Rolo at the wedding are wearing their little tuxes are on one shinpad while I and Scotty are on the other, which is really nice because they both brought my life off the pitch with me.”

They are my dogs, but they also serve as my children as I travel, and Scott, who is always there for me, is one of them.

It was their wedding anniversary during the Euros. Kelly and her husband spent a few hours by the Swiss lakes while Kelly claimed that roses were provided in her room at the England camp.

That is just as significant to brands, according to Kemp as Kelly’s 68mph penalty in Basel.

” It is wonderful to see her on the front of every newspaper, but it is almost bigger than that, “she said.

Similar to the celebration after scoring against Italy from a rebound following her own missed penalty, Kelly is a proud, cocky footballer who is unafraid to celebrate her tournament-winning penalty with a self-assured shrug to the fans.

Before the final, England team-mate Lucy Bronze said, “She has been doing it week in, week out, and she just has this attitude and this confidence that I don’t think you can buy.

” To miss a penalty, score the rebound and then tell everyone to calm down is hilarious in itself, “former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha said.

She is adamant that she will have a moment when she pitches. She is who she is.

Kelly celebrates her London roots, her close family in which she is the youngest of seven siblings, and her love of hip-hop.

Kelly told Romesh Ranganathan on Radio 2 that she “loves to listen to music.” I support people in my area like AJ Tracey, and because my mother always had the radio on, I enjoy listening to his music. He’s a friend of mine. It’s really encouraging to see West London currently flourishing in the music industry.

Kelly is also unafraid to voice her opinion. In February, Sarina Wiegman left Kelly out of her squad for Nations League games against Portugal and Spain. She had been playing football since mid-December when she stopped playing because of her swank at her former club Manchester City.

She obtained a loan from Arsenal after posting emotional social media messages accusing City of spreading negative stereotypes about her. The club never commented publicly about Kelly’s remarks.

We have always supported her, even though I’ll never know exactly how she feels. She had a lot of fans in the changing area, according to MacIver, 27.

The switch paid off and just four months after moving to north London Kelly was lifting the Champions League trophy with her new team-mates.

Some people’s career-spanning six months of Chloe’s playing career would be what some people would achieve, said former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen.

She has the ability to support her claim in front of the media by giving evidence that she is not afraid to speak her mind, which Chloe has done.

“She has struck a lovely balance between performance and personality”.

Kelly hasn’t been shy about revealing that she nearly gave up on football.

“Chloe has always loved football, but it was challenging to see that as a friend or team-mate,” said MacIver, 27. “She was not able to showcase what we have seen in Euros, but she has never shied away from a challenge.

She said, “Looking back on the journey, I’m really proud.” To begin with, it was a challenging one. Thinking about giving up the game that we all love is really difficult but sometimes you need to look after your mental health and that was really important to me. “

The Lionesses were regarded as the ideal example of female athletic excellence after Euro 2022. Kelly claims that allowing our female football icons to be imperfect will be the next step.

” We create a stereotype that is impossible for women footballers to live up to, that can be quite oppressive from a marketing perspective, “she said.

They can have incredible personalities and be an incredible athlete. You wouldn’t want Kelly in just one area because she has a lot of flair.